Google Classroom Header for Beta Classes
Google Classroom is coming out with a new interface for the Fall (that is all you get on dates.) In the new interface, students go to the new Classwork page to find assignments. If you want to learn more about the new interface consider joining my online workshop as part of being a premium member.
Uh Now What… Classwork
I was doing a training this week with the new interface and the participants joined the class and just sat there… not doing any work. This was what was great about the old interface you join and there is work sitting there for you to do. Now you need someone to point out “hey, click on Classwork.” You can add an announcement to let the students know they need to go to the Classwork page but it doesn’t stay at the top of the Stream. It gets lost quickly in the Stream… so close to useless to leave an announcement.
Google Classroom Header
While I can not pin an announcement to the top of the Stream, I can make a custom Google Classroom header. I created a header image that has a giant finger pointing at the Classwork page. I added a textbox on the left to direct students to click on Classwork.
Note, do not put the note in the middle or on the right hand side. The class title is in the middle and will block your note. The right side gets cropped off if you resize the window smaller. So make sure your note is on the LEFT.
Template
You can find the blank template for the Google Classroom header at alicekeeler.com/gcheader
File Download As
You will want to customize the template to be our own. The finger is a Bitmoji where I searched for “finger” from the Chrome extension. If you want to use your own Bitmoji finger, swap mine out for yours. You can also right click on the background and change the background color. Here are directions if you want to tie dye your own background.
Use the File menu to “Download as” and choose “PNG.”
Upload Photo
In Google Classroom in the bottom right of the header banner is an option to “Upload photo.” Upload your new banner header.
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Alice, when after selecting the entire .png as the header, the final upload crops the image to about 1/2 the height…any idea why or how to avoid this happening? See here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eq2Dgyazw8kjb2A5_gmiMQpOkXkqpV2K/view?usp=sharing
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Thanks for the image. When I upload it there is a dark overlay. I wonder can this be changed?
That is a “feature” of Google Classroom that so far I can’t find one teacher who likes it.